Marybeth Wolfe – July 2nd

“The shadow in each of us is not to be feared, but to be better known” from The Secret Language of Birthdays by Gary Goldschneider & Joost Elffers

“I met Marybeth way back in kindergarten. We ended up the same high school, and then randomly the same college as well. Now, about 26 years later (aging myself, I know) I got to photograph her for The Birthday Book Project. How cool is that? Just goes to show that you never know where life will take you and who will contribute to your journey. J Thank you Marybeth for wanting to be a part of the Project and supporting our vision.” – Cyndal L

An Interview with Marybeth

Q. What is the best memory you have from a previous birthday?

A. My husband planned a 30th birthday party for me, and it was so nice to just be surrounded by all my friends and family. My son was only 2 1/2 months old at the time, so to just get to show up and enjoy everyone’s coming was so nice.

Q. How about the worst? And why?

A. My worst birthday memory was probably my 19th birthday. I was in the process of moving to the city for college, and felt very forgotten on that day since I was splitting my time between my home town and my new city.

Q. What was the present you’ve received for your birthday that surprised you most?

A. The present that I received for my birthday that surprised me the most would have to be a scrapbook of my wedding photos from my cousin. The fact that she was able to capture all different shots from the day is really special to me.

Q. Is there a food or dish that you insist on eating on your birthday?

A. Not a specific dish – but my husband always cooks me a special meal on my birthday. The fact that he plans it all out and goes the extra mile makes me feel very appreciated on that day.

Q. What do you believe is the most important aspect of celebrating a birthday?

A. It’s a time to reflect on a year gone by, and look forward to things to come.

Q. Do you have any traditions or thing you always do to celebrate a birthday? What is it?

A. In our family, we always make a special meal for the person who is celebrating a birthday. We make it all about them, just something to make them feel special and loved on that day.

To bring Canadian photographers together and create a body of work that represents the unique personalities of individuals and celebrates differences, cultures and traditions surrounding birthday memories and celebrations.

We want to encourage collaboration and give photographers an opportunity to showcase their talent by coming together as a community and collaborating on a project that brings to light the uniqueness of individuals around the world..

The concept for this project was born from a book by Gary Goldschneider called The Secret Language of Birthdays. In this book the author compiled information from over 40 years of empirical research to describe individuals through an assessment of the day and month of their birth. We want to do the same, but through images.